


Exploration by Touch

by sorasan0000



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Age Difference, Gen, M/M, Moonlight, Sleep Deprivation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-06
Packaged: 2018-04-08 01:55:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4286199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sorasan0000/pseuds/sorasan0000
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A night of camping out during a mission leads to a sleepy Su-won getting a closer, rare look at his slumbering general.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Exploration by Touch

**Author's Note:**

> \- Story written when chapter 108 was the latest chapter.

Su-won couldn’t sleep. The hard ground they picked for their turn in for the night was lumpy. He felt his arm fuzz and sting as he moved it for the first time in half an hour and stretched his hand out several times before taking his whole arm out to stretch even more. In doing so, he accidentally bumped his hand into the back of a neighboring bodyguard sleeping next to him. If he remembered correctly in his sleepy haze, several others and then Mu-Ah and Gyoku were lined up and encircling the camp in slumber.

A sharp and piercing throb was relieved as he turned onto his back and peered upward with heavy lids, allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness even the full moon couldn’t completely illuminate.

When he turned to his other, less aching side, he quietly gasped as he saw General Ju-doh lying against the hard base of the cliffs above. He slept on his side with folded arms, with one of his swords remaining strapped to his side while the other rested within the cracks of his folded arms. His hands were limp, with one’s fingertips resting against the ground.

Su-won remembered that the general had volunteered to watch the fire as it burned out. The fact he couldn’t remember Ju-doh placing himself there meant he must have slept at least for a little bit, but that small annoyance was drowned out by Su-won’s perplexity with how Ju-doh slept. It wasn't like he had expected them to camp outdoors during this mission, but he remembered telling them all to be prepared. Knowing how the general was, it was strange that he had nothing.

With just one or two rolls, Su-won would be within arm’s reach. Breaking into a small smile, he did just that and firmly tugged his bedding, rolling twice with it until he could see the general’s face up close. Soft breathing came from his slightly opened mouth as he scanned a rare look at the stern man’s sleeping face.

Sitting up, he slipped one layer of covering from his bedding and tossed it above Ju-doh, making sure it covered as much as it could. It certainly wasn’t that thick, but having a covering was better than none if just for familiarity’s sake, he figured.

Snuggling back under his covers, he faced the slumbering man and continued his exploration. His daily scowl was wiped clean, with permanent evidence of it only appearing near the inner creases of his eyebrows. His lips curved outward, and his eyes seemed to sink from the fatigue the long day had dealt on him. His hair, which was always slicked back, was unraveling and hung down across the side of his head and forehead.

It could have just been an illusion caused by the moonlight, but he looked younger somehow with his hair slightly down. He began imagining what it would be like if he always wore it down and slowly, but carefully, reached out and grabbed a lock. He pinched and slid his forefinger and thumb across it.

His eyes slipped from his hair to his forehead, and he hesitantly let the tip of his finger glide across the cold surface back and forth. It trickled down across the fold under his eyes and brushed against the rough scar on his right cheek. He had that scar for as long as he could remember, and he always said it was caused by a dual back during the days he was a young trainee under his father. For that alone, his scar was just one of several things he liked about him, so it certainly wasn’t a stain to him.

His hand traveled lower to the corners of his mouth before making way for his middle and ring fingers to lightly slide across his cold lips. He raised his other hand and slid across his own, feeling the difference in sensation and temperature. Ju-doh’s were just as cold, but his were drier and chapped compared to Su-won’s.

Trailing even further still, he feathered his fingertips across the top of his limp hand and gently held it with both hands. With one hand he stroked in circles around the top and lightly poked and rubbed the bumps and calluses across the top of his palm with the other. Calluses healed with time. These were proof that even now, Ju-doh was keeping up his strength; a sign of devotion.

He curled inward, leaning in until the tip of his nose was touching the cold hand. Su-won’s heart fluttered and raced quicker, and catching himself in the drowsy act caused him to pull back.

 _What am I doing?_   he wondered before tucking his hands and head inside the covers. If the man were to wake up right then, it would cause an uproar and wake up the whole camp.

_SNAP!_

Soft footsteps were heard right outside the encampment, and Su-won quickly scuttled away from the close range he placed himself in with the general. Su-won sighed in relief when he recognized a grunt from the source of the noise as one of the guards. It seemed to be about the time of night for lookouts to change out, and it seemed they hadn’t noticed his movements.

Turning onto his back, he stared at the full moon and listened to the breathing of the man whose face he had explored just moments ago. He felt his eyelids slowly closing on their own and smiled peacefully. A lullaby for his sleepless mind, he supposed.

 ***

“I’m truly sorry we had to camp outdoors, Your Majesty,” a guard chirped in as they settled out for the rest of their trip back to Hiryuu Castle.

Su-won shook his head and assured them it was all right. Putting on a flat smile, he tried to ignore the obvious stare boring into his back from none other than the grumpy man who had been avoiding him all morning.

“If anybody must apologize, it must be me. Poor General Ju-doh certainly isn’t a morning person, is he?”

“ _Excuse_ me, but if _somebody_ had remembered to bring their bedding from the start, I wouldn’t be so bitter!”

Su-won whipped his head back in confusion. “Wait, what? I did bring mine?”

“No, you left it at Hiryuu Castle’s gates!”

Silent at first, a smirk crept along Su-won’s profile and he let out a light chuckle. “Oops.”

“Don’t “oops” me, my whole body hurts because of you!”

“General Ju-doh, please mind who you’re talking to,” Mu-Ah broke in.

Ju-doh directed his horse until he was right next to his sly king and leaned in for a murmur. “And we will ‘discuss’ your little exploration of my face and hand later.”

He paused and didn’t answer back. He simply looked at his general from a side glance and gestured his horse to speed up.  

“Why, whatever you say, General Ju-doh. Be my guest.”


End file.
